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Wicked Witch of the West
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) Wicked Witch of the West (1939) The Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West (or Witch of the West, or Wicked Witch for short) is a fictional character invented by L. Frank Baum, author and creator of the Oz Legacy. Her first and only appearance is in Baum's first Oz book titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900. She is introduced in the twelfth chapter of the novel titled, The search of the Wicked Witch, where she serves strictly as the most significant antagonist in the plot of the story. In the novel, Baum never named his Wicked Witch and she is only known by her title of position. Despite being such an iconic character, in Baum's subsequent Oz books, it is the infamous Nome King from a neighboring kingdom, who is the principal villain throughout the sequel stories. In the Oz books the Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after her death in the first book by being liquefied by the stories child protagonist and heroine named Dorothy Gale of Kansas. The Wicked Witch's most popular depiction was in the classic 1939 Hollywood musical movie loosely based on Baum's book, The Wizard of Oz, where she was portrayed by late actress Margaret Hamilton. Hamilton's iconic characterization introduced green boogeyman skin and this has been continued in later literary and dramatic representations of Oz, including Gregory Maguire's highly praised revisionist Oz novel titled Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. In Maguire's story the Witch's name is "Elphaba" who is green due to her mother consuming "Green Miracle Elixir" while she was pregnant. In the 2013 Oz film by Walt Disney pictures Oz the Great and Powerful, the pre-Wicked Witch of the West is a young and naive "Good Witch" named Theodora, who tragically turns green from a green posion apple that causes her heart to shed itself from all its goodness. In the Spring 2014 story arc of the popular television series Once Upon a Time, the Wicked Witch is named "Zelena", who turns green due to her jealousy over a newly arrived Dorothy who became a threat to the prophecy involving Oz's four Witches. ("Green with Envy"). *Surprisingly, in the original book by Baum it never states that the Wicked Witch of the West has any type of peculiar skin condition or discoloration such as being green. It does state however that the Wicked Witch is so old that all the blood in her body dried up long before Dorothy's unexpected arrival. 'Wicked In the West' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) The Wicked Witch of the West is the malevolent ruler of the western quadrant in the magical Land of Oz known as the Winkie Country. Interestingly, in Baum's original book of 1900, it is said the Wicked Witch lives in a yellow castle that is beautiful. Her home is described as consisting of long hallways carpeted with yellow velvet rugs, yellow silken draperies are placed at the castle windows and attractive yellow antiques and decor decorated nearly every room. It is indeed a luxurious setting instead of being the sinister fortress of medieval darkness shown in the 1939 movie. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) In all versions, she is seriously aquaphobic, being highly allergic to H2O. In the original version of the story, the Wicked Witch of the West was not related to the Wicked Witch of the East, but leagued together with her, as well as the Wicked Witch of the South and the old Witch Mombi to conquer the Land of Oz and divide it among themselves in four sections, long before the Wizard arrived, or even Glinda the Good surfaced. This is recounted in L. Frank Baum's fourth Oz book titled Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, published in 1908. Here, the Wicked Witch of the West shows no interest in the death of the Eastern Witch, and all she cares about is obtaining her magical Silver Shoes which will increase her own evil powers that will help her in her task to successfully win her battles and ruthlessly dominate more of the Ozians. When the Winkies fail her, we are told she "beat them well with a strap." She also seems to have the Winkies actively working for her, though Baum never tells us what exactly this work is. Perhaps she was working on a way to defy the Wizard. Some Oz fans also have suggested the idea that she cast a spell upon the Winkie Country to stop any rain to fall near her territory. Baums' One Eyed Witch W. W. Denslow's illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz depict her as a paunched old hag with three pigtails and an eye-patch. L. Frank Baum himself specified that she only had one eye, but that it "was as strong and powerful as a telescope", enabling the witch to see what was happening in her kingdom from her castle windows. Other illustrators, such as Paul Granger, placed her eye in the center of her forehead, as a cyclops. Usually, she is shown wearing an eye patch, however some illustrations incorrectly show her with two eyes. Most of her power resides in the creatures she controls that do her dirty work. She has a pack of hungry, wild wolves, a swarm of black killer bees, a flock of black crows with sharp beaks to peck eyes out and an army of the Winkies who are her slaves. In the book she also possesses the enchanted Golden Cap encrusted with real rubies and diamonds that run across its 24 Karat gold brim. This special cap compelles the creatures called Winged Monkeys of Oz to obey her on three occasions when she speaks the caps incantation. First, the witch commanded the creatures to help her enslave the Winkies and to seize control of the western section of Oz. Second, she made the winged monkeys drive the Wizard out of the Winkie Country, when he became the dominant ruler and even attempted to overthrow her but was unsuccessful. When Dorothy Gale and her three companions were sent by the Wizard to destroy her, in exchange for their wishes to be granted, the Wicked Witch saw them on her land and attacked them with her pack of wolves, crows, black bees, and her group of Winkie slaves. Each of these attempts were thwarted, but the protagonists are eventually subdued by the Wicked Witch's third and final permitted use of the Golden Cap. In the book Baum siad that she "destroyed" anyone who had ever attempted to challenge her other than the Wizard. Yet interestingly, in Baum's book the Wicked Witch could not directly kill Dorothy because the girl was protected by the Good Witch of the North's magical kiss upon her forehead. She therefore settles for enslaving Dorothy like the rest of the Winkies and tries to force the Cowardly Lion into submission by starving him, though Baum states that Dorothy sneaks him food at night during their captivity. Upon seeing the magical Silver Shoes on the girl's feet, the Wicked Witch of the West decided to formulate a plan to successfully steal them from Dorothy and thereby acquire even more power. The Wicked Witch of the West did not carry a broom in the novel, but rather an umbrella, which she uses on one occasion to strike Dorothy's dog Toto to install fear within the girl. The Umbrella makes a lot more sense than a broomstick because it was also probably used to protect and shield herself against any water attacks. Though no one knows that she is allergic to water. Her nature is a self entitled one and yet somewhat slightly cowardly. Despite her immense power, she avoids face-to-face contact with her enemies, and is frightened of Dorothy at first when she sees the girl is wearing the magic Silver Shoes. She is also afraid of the dark in Baum's original story for reasons never revealed. For that reason, the Witch never tried to steal the shoes while Dorothy was sleeping. Despite her fear of water and the dark, the Wicked Witch of the West was one of the most powerful witches in all of Oz. In ensuing Oz books, her power is described as having been so great that even Glinda the Good Witch of the South secretly feared her at one point. When she does finally succeed in acquiring one of the shoes by making Dorothy trip over an invisible bar while she was working in her kitchen, the little girl angrily threw a bucket of water onto the Wicked Witch after demanding her shoe back. This caused the Wicked Witch to dissolve away like brown sugar and melt to death. L. Frank Baum did not explain precisely why water had this effect on her, nor did he ever imply that all evil witches could be likewise destroyed. However, the wicked witch Mombi is similarly disposed of in The Lost King of Oz and the wicked witch Singra is clearly afraid of the same fate in the early chapters of the Wicked Witch of Oz. The most likely explanation of Baum making water the Achilles Heel of these witches is the long held belief amongst major religions that water is effective for purifying the soul and combating evil. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) *After the death of the Wicked Witch of the West the Winkies asked the Tin Woodman to become the Emperor of Oz's western quadrant. After Dorothy and Toto finally went back to Kansas, he agreed and the Winkies built him a tin castle to live in as a gift to their new loving monarch ruler. Death of the Wicked Witch of the West It is stated in Baum's book that the Wicked Witch of the West was so old and Wicked that all the blood in her body dried up long before The Wonderful Wizard of Oz takes place. And when she fnally comes into contact with water, it burns her skin like acid and she dissolves into a puddle on the floor. Baum described it as "melting away like brown sugar." In the beginning of the story when Dorothy's farmhouse fell on the Wicked Witch of the East, her body soon caved in and crumbled to dust under the fallen establishment. (The feet of the dead Wicked Witch had disappeared entirely and nothing was left but the Silver Shoes.) The Good Witch of the North explains that "She was so old that she dried up quickly in the sun." So whatever mysterious magic potion or spell that was holding the Wicked Witch of the East together was possibly something the Wicked Witch of the West used to keep herself alive as well, even though Baum never elaborated upon this aspect. But when water touched her skin, her old withered body began to break down due to exposure to the H2O moisture, each cell soaking up the water like a sponge and pulling away from the rest of her body until there was nothing left to pull away from. It would be a HORRIBLE way to go! However horrible it was; it was a quick death nonetheless, and everyone in Oz could breathe a sigh of relief when her Wicked reign came to an end and she was finally gone for good. The Wizard of Oz (1939) Wizard of Oz 1910 In L. Frank Baum's 1910 independent Oz film of The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch is named "Momba". The Wizard of Oz 1939 In the MGM musical, the Wicked Witch of the West is portrayed by late actress Margaret Hamilton who introduced green skin to the iconic character. Hamilton's characterization is the most popular version of Oz's western villain. The Wiz In both the 1974 Broadway Musical and 1978 Motown movie , the Wicked Witch of the West is named Evillene is a tyrant in this version. Similar too the 1900 book the Winkies are her slaves. Both verisons are different and similar. The broadway version she lives in a dark castle with the winkies slaving away and is in a terrible mood. She is dressed in a red dress with many tacky or gaudy items glued on them. Wicked 1995 Elphaba Thropp is the green skinned protagonist in the popular book titled Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by author Gregory Maguire published in 1995. Elphaba is also the main character of the very successful Broadway Musical of the same name. Rather book or stage adaptation the story itself is a much more mature version of the first American Fairytale; The Wizard of Oz, which combines many key elements from both the iconic 1939 movie by MGM and the original book titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by children's author L. Frank Baum published in 1900. The story is not seen through the eyes of Baum's original Oz protagonist, the Kansas farm girl known as Dorothy Gale, who is neither the hero nor villain here. Dorothy is just a mere outsider, unwillingly thrown into a world she knows little to nothing about. Instead, everything that happens in Wicked's version of the magical land of Oz revolves around the social outcast and tortured soul named Elphaba, aka "Elphie". The plot follows her life journey, focusing on her thoughts, trials, tribulations, her meaningful relationships and eventual decent into Wickedness and how it changed the land of Oz forever. Despite being the protagonist to the reader of the novel or viewer of the play, Elphaba eventually becomes viewed as the antagonist who rebels against the repression in Oz. Her strength to stand up for what she believes in leads to her being viewed by many people throughout Oz as "Wicked," thus, ultimately leading to her tragic demise. Despite her sad fate, and tarnished reputation due to the matter of Dorothy, Elphaba becomes known by many others as an underground legend and iconic activist for Animal rights in Oz long after her tragic death. *Author Gregory Maguire payed homage to Baum and formulated Elphaba's unique name out of L. Frank Baum's name, taking the phonetic pronunciation of his initials: hence, L.F.B became El-pha-ba. Syfy's Tinman 2009 The beautiful Witch Azkadellia takes the role of the Wicked Witch of the West 100 years after Dorothy Gale defeated the original of the Outer Zone aka Oz. Oz the Great & Powerful 2013 In this Oz prequel to the 1939 musical, Theodora is a beautiful, naive Good Witch who is "protected" by her powerful sister Evanora who both live in the magical Land of Oz. Shortly after the King of Oz's death she wanders alone throughout Oz and ultimately finds and quickly falls in love with Oscar Diggs aka Oscar Oz, the "pre-Wizard" who she believes has come to Oz to fulfill the long awaited prophecy. However, Theadora's innocence works against her as she is manipulated into becoming Wicked by evil forces in disguise, who are much more closer to home than she realizes. Once Upon A Time 2014 In the hit ABC TV Show Once Upon A Time, Zelena the Wicked Witch of the West is the half-sister to the Evil Queen Regina, having been born out of wedlock from an affair between her mother Cora and a gardener named Jonathan who masqueraded as a prince. After her existence ruins Cora's chances of being married to the genuine Prince Leopold, she is promptly abandoned by her mother and swept up by a cyclone moments later. This carries her to Oz and she is found by a woodsman and his wife. The woman insists on taking her in despite her husband's fear of her, having witnessed her perform magic at such a young age. Many years later, she leaves home after her father spitefully reveals the truth, seeking out the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard reveals her past and gives her the magic silver slippers, allowing her to travel to the enchanted forest and learn magic under Rumplestiltskin. After a failed attempt to kill Regina, Zelena returns to Oz and asks the Wizard to send her back in time to change her past. When he refuses, causing her to expose him as a fraud and turn him into the first Flying Monkey. She is later invited to join the witches of Oz by Glinda, only to turn green with Envy towards a newly arrived Dorothy Gale. Trivia *In the book, the Wicked Witch is not related to the one of the East. *In the book, the Wicked Witch owned a pack of killer wolves, crows, and angry bees. *In the book, it is stated that the Wicked Witch of the West has only one eye, yet it is as powerful as a telescope. *In the book, the Wicked Witch of the West is said to be so old all the blood in her body dried up. *In the book, the Wicked Witch of the West doesn't fly on or own a Broomstick, instead she carries around a gaudy umbrella to protect herself from the rain. *In the book, when Dorothy is kept a prisoner in the castle of the Wicked Witch, the Witch forcefully hits Toto with her umbrella and sends the poor dog flying across the room to install fear within Dorothy. *In the book, the Wicked Witch is said to be scared of the dark. *Margaret Hamilton, who played the green skinned Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film was badly burned during a shot involving fire and smoke. On 23 December 1938, while filming the Wicked Witch's exit from Munchkinland in a blaze of fire, Hamilton suffered first-degree burns on the right side of her face and second-degree burns on her right hand; the flames rose too soon, before she had descended below the stage. Hamilton's green makeup was copper-based and potentially toxic, and had to be removed from her burned flesh with alcohol — an intensely painful process. She was not able to return to the movie until 10 February. *In the finished film, Hamilton's Wicked Witch has twelve minutes of screen time. Hamilton worked on the production for four months, and earned precisely $18,541.68. *Many scenes in the 1939 film involving the Wicked Witch had to be edited or taken out completely due to being too terrifying. *Margaret Hamilton, once dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West on Sesame Street with Oscar the Grouch. The skit was never aired due to being too "scary" for children. Other Siblings The Wicked Witch of the West is mentioned frequently in the film Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. The Jester, the antagonist of the film, is her younger brother and uses her broom to create the scepter that gives him power. She is said to have cursed the Jester to never be able to remove his costume, always revealing another underneath. She is also shown when the Jester conjures up images of his past, having treated her brother like a slave rather than let him become a warlock. Oz Gallery IMG_20141203_225632-1.jpg|"Melting" by Greg Hildebrandt IMG_20150128_182659.jpg|Wicked Witch's poster Castle IMG_20150116_065922.jpg|The Wicked Witch and Dorothy. IMG_20150117_044048.jpg|Melting the Wicked Witch IMG_20141117_094637.jpg|Melted in a Silver Shoe. By Charles Santore IMG_20141203_225728.jpg|The Wizard of Oz. Illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt IMG_20141109_044321.jpg IMG_20141104_080152.jpg IMG_20141104_150341.jpg IMG_20141105_003750.jpg|Melting away like Brown Sugar. Tumblr_n55vl0am0R1se9ohoo1_1280.jpg|Illustration by Evan Dahm. IMG_20141105_010300.jpg IMG_20141104_092045.jpg IMG_20141104_115457.jpg IMG_20141104_090903.jpg IMG_20141104_115108.jpg IMG_20141104_082404.jpg Wicked Witch of the West.jpg|digital collage by Max Schultz|link=http://society6.com/maxwellschultz/wicked-witch-of-the-west-full-body_print#1=45 IMG_20141104_081737.jpg IMG_20141104_083431.jpg IMG_20141104_080122h.jpg Salvatican_Royal_Palace_by_GleamingScythe.png IMG_20141017_205054hj.jpg IMG_20141104_070508.jpg|Give those Silver Shoes to me! By Charles Santore IMG_20141105_010345.jpg IMG_20141104_070424.jpg|Give me back my Silver Shoe! By Charles Santore IMG_20141104_072918.jpg IMG_20141104_073138.jpg Ilus_csantore_wingedmonkeys.jpg IMG_20141104_071317.jpg Wiz Mabel King Evillene.jpg|Evillene Evillene clr.jpg The-Wiz-Evilene 400.jpg IMG_20141223_000329.jpg IMG_20141109_044932.jpg|Zelena IMG_20141111_033700.jpg|Theodora of Oz 2013 Category:Oz Book Characters Category:Oz Movie Characters Category:Wicked Characters Category:Wicked Category:Witches Category:Antagonists Category:Villains Category:Winkie Country Category:Rulers in Oz Category:Once Upon a Time Characters Category:Dead Characters